I’m dedicating the year 2012 to my health and fitness

It’s hard to believe that 2011 is coming to an end.  I didn’t manage to make the strides I’d hoped to make concerning my health and fitness this year.  Overall I gained weight and lost fitness.  Not quite the way I wanted to go.  I’ve spent the past few weeks planning how to make permanent changes in my life that will allow me to lose weight and regain my fitness.

The first week of the year, I’ll alternate walking on the treadmill and riding the exercise bike for my cardio.  I’ll do strength training, alternating upper body, lower body, and core.  I’m going to have to start with lighter weights than what I was using before, but you start where you are and go from there.

I’ve got a chart listing minutes for cardio and reps, weight and sets for strength training.  I’ll slowly increase the time for cardio and the reps and weight for strength training.  I want to get to a place where I’m regularly doing at least 30 minutes of cardio five days a week.  Once I’m there, I’ll begin increasing intensity.  I’ve got the plan in place.  I’m determined to follow through.

At some point in time, once I’ve got the exercise habit firmly in place again, I’m going to have to examine my reaction to stress and work on a better way to deal with it.  That’s a little ways down the road, but the thought is in my mind.   I’ll let it kind of percolate there while I’m working on my diet and exercise routines.

I stopped at Kroger today and bought some produce, low-fat dairy, fish and whole grain sandwich thins.  I’ve got my meal plan set for the next few days.  I find I’m really looking forward to eating good, home cooked food again.  Planning and preparation will be key.

And you can bet I’ll be visiting SparkPeople.com daily, if only for a few minutes a day.  There’s something about having that accountability that helps me maintain my motivation.  Of course, we’ll also have our four-week livewell 10,000 daily steps competition at work too.  It all helps!!  And anyone out there who wants to share the journey with me, jump on in!

Planning to succeed in 2012

Oh I know, we’ve all made resolutions and broken most of them within a couple of weeks.  I think most of us have the best of intentions, but we don’t plan to succeed.  I think you have to really give it some thought.  Not just throw out the same old lose weight, get organized, save money resolutions that you’ve tossed out there practically every year.  It’s not about what you wish you could change, rather it’s about what you’re so tired of in your life that changing it is less painful than staying the same.

Over the past several weeks I’ve been giving this a lot of thought.  For me, I’m just so terribly tired of not feeling good, of having no energy, of being exhausted at the end of every work day, of climbing out of bed in the morning and stumbling around because I’m in so much pain, of not wanting to go anywhere because I’m tired and because I look like I do right now. 

I remember, not so long ago, feeling happy and excited about life.  I was running and enjoying it.  I was dancing with a smile on my face.  I was eating a healthy diet and getting a good amount of exercise and my body showed its appreciation with an excess of energy, strength to get through the day, and adequate sleep.

I want to feel like that again.  In order to do that, I’ll have to make some major changes in my life.  I’ll have to do a better job of planning my diet and my exercise routine.  I’ll have to get involved in a support system that will help me over the rough spots.  I’ll have to get back to eating a healthy diet because that’s what’s best for me.  I’ll have to deal with stress through exercise rather than through food.   And I’ll have to relearn to forgo the instant gratification of fast food in order to experience the return to health in the long-term.

As I said, I’ve been mulling this over for several weeks now.  I’ve come to the realization that I’m so tired of feeling like this.  So tired that it is more difficult to continue living like this than it is to make the necessary changes to return to fitness.

I’m planning to succeed.  I’m planning to regain my healthy lifestyle and become that fit person I was not so long ago.  Can I do it?  Oh yeah!!  Watch me succeed!

 

The long and winding road to fitness, day 192

Mercy me, I am one worn out pup tonight.  We had a huge truck today with two call ins (well, one girl I actually sent home, she came in with a fever and had been up all night sick.  I told her I couldn’t make her go home, but if she wanted to it would be okay.  While I appreciate the dedication to the job,  I just don’t want everyone else getting sick too.)  One girl volunteered to stay over an extra hour and a half and another girl came in, so we were in decent shape.  We made pretty good progress on the truck, didn’t finish it in the five and a half hours they want us to, but still…when the truck is that big I’m a proponent of just getting it worked and getting the floor cleaned up so customers can get around.  And we did do that…

Today was not a terrible eating day altho I did have a Nutty Bar.  I stopped at Kroger before work and bought donuts and Nutty Bars for the truck crew.  I didn’t eat a donut, but man do I like those Little Debbie Nutty Bars…something about peanut butter and chocolate…then I looked at the box and saw that one little package of those things has 310 calories…yikes!  But I did have a Lean Cuisine and fruit for lunch so that wasn’t bad.

Exercise?  Umm…yeah…working that truck for all of those hours.  I’m feeling like that was quite a bit of exercise.  I do think it’s a different kind of exercise than sustained cardio though,  looking forward to getting back into that routine.  I’ve got the treadmill and exercise bike so I can get in my cardio over the winter months without being in danger of slipping and falling…well, you haven’t seen me on the treadmill…there could still be an incident there.

I’ve been mulling over my New Year’s resolutions…or goals if you will…and will discuss those over the next few days.  I’m psyched, ready to make some changes and get back to feeling healthy and fit.

I’ve even got the healthy farmers market 2012 calendar to inspire me.

I have such a polite car

Kind of funny to say, but my car is exceedingly polite.  When I was letting it warm up this morning, it very politely told me that there could be icy conditions on the roads.  I could just hear that soft voice warning me about the possible ice…you know, “hello…I just want you to be aware of the possibility of ice on the roads this morning as you’re on your way to work.  Please drive carefully and have a good day.”

Okay, it didn’t really express it that way, but that’s how I imagine it talking.  Hmm…wonder why I never hear it talking to me in a deep man’s voice?  Something like…”Yo…black ice comin’ at ya, take a risk and go for a spin.”  Somehow that’s not all that comforting.

I wonder what it will say to me tomorrow?  And why does it never ask me why in the world I’m out so darn early in the morning?

The long and winding road to fitness, day 190

Are you like me?  Once Christmas is over, I find myself focusing on the new year…on what I hope to achieve, things I want to do, goals I want to set for myself.  Do you do the same thing?

I’ve really kind of let my fitness routine slide, my healthy eating fall by the wayside.  I can always use the excuse that my work schedule has been absolutely insane…but when you get down to it, that’s all it is…an excuse.  With planning and preparation, I could have continued to eat healthy and fit in some exercise here and there.  But I didn’t.  I haven’t stepped on the scale, but I can tell I’ve gained weight.

That’s what’s so nice about turning that calendar page on this year…I can start fresh, learn from my mistakes, and move forward on that road to fitness.  Who’s with me?

 

Mega Monday

Well, now I know why we were so busy at work today.  I have the news on in the background and they had a feature on Mega Monday.   Supposedly this is the third busiest shopping day of the year.  I’m not sure about that, but we were certainly busy.  We opened at  7 this morning (which meant we had to get there at 4…ugh).  We had to get the ad set and try to get some of the new sets done for tomorrow’s huge truck.  But with customers lining up outside the doors before 7  to snag some of those Christmas bargains, it was difficult to get anything done.

I have to admit I did some shopping as I was signing things.  I depleted my supply of gift bags this year so I stocked up on those at 70% off.  I also bought a couple of packages of tissue paper.  I wasn’t completely out, but my stash was getting low and, at 59 cents a package, hey, why not grab some?

I spent about $11 on these (and another $3 on Ghirardelli baking chips)…not bad, not bad at all.

People were buying a lot of gift wrap, bows, packaging for baked goods and candy, decor items.  It’s always fun to talk with people about what they’re planning to do with the things they buy this year for next year.  And it makes me feel a little better to realize I’m not the only person who buys things to put back for next year and then forgets that I bought them until late in the season.  That seems to be a fairly common thing.  So I guess I’m just a normal girl after all…

Peace On Earth

My Christmas wish for all of us is for us to find a way to coexist peacefully with one another, despite our differences.

Santa’s On His Way

It’s that night, the night when Santa somehow delivers tons of toys to good little boys and girls all over the world…

Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night!

Family Christmas

I went out of town this afternoon to celebrate Christmas with part of my family.  It was so nice to see everyone again.  I feel especially blessed that, even after my mother died, my step family is still my family.

Little Allison was so excited to have everyone there and she sure wanted to pass out (and open) the presents.  She was crawling under the tree to retrieve presents (at her grandfather’s urging) and then just bouncing over to hand them to the intended recipient.  I can’t remember if I’ve ever had that much energy!  When Larry asked her who should open their presents first, she replied, “me”…well, yeah pappy…what little 3-year-old doesn’t want to get down to the business of opening her gifts?

And Bradley, oh my, just smiling at everyone.  What a pleasant little boy.  Okay, I’m going to be honest here, I think Mommy and Daddy might take an exception to that last remark.  Poor Brian and Sarah were exhausted because little Bradley just couldn’t sleep last night…poor little guy…and poor Mommy and Daddy too.  Get some rest, you two!

And it was so good to have the chance to chat with Lori again.   It’s so hard to believe that only a few years ago, she was Allison’s age.  She’s a wonderful aunt to Allison and Bradley…seeing her with them brings back a lot of memories of my time with her and Brian when they were little kids.  What good times those were.

My step dad came over and sat down beside me and handed me an envelope.  Took me by surprise.  Then he said he didn’t know how many pictures of my mom I have, but he wanted me to have these.  Wow!  I got more than a little teary eyed when I was looking at those pictures.  I thought that was just the nicest thing he could have done for me.  And we ended up talking for quite a while, it was just really, really nice.

I got to visit with my step brother, hadn’t seen him in several years.  He’s the same funny guy he’s always been.  It was good to see his grandkids, some of whom I’d never met. 

And my step sister, Kathy and her husband, Larry…what wonderful people.  I keep up with all of the family news via Kathy.  I never had a sister, but Kathy is pretty darn close!  I feel very fortunate to be a part of this family.  Spending time with family at Christmas is priceless.

What in the world happened while I was working today?

Okay, granted I spent most of the day in the windowless stockroom, then in the windowless office, but was there some kind of wild event going on that I knew nothing about?  Should I have been checking in on Facebook throughout the day?  Going online to keep abreast of local happenings?

When I drove in to work this morning a little before 5 am, gas was $3.11 per gallon.  On the way home I noticed that it had shot up to $3.36 a gallon.  Did a pipeline burst somewhere?  Did someone blow up a refinery?  Oh wait, now I remember, it’s 3 days before a holiday…of course the price of gas is going to go up.  What was I thinking? 

Well, a few days ago I was thinking that this would happen and filled the tank up with that $3.11/gallon gas…ha, take that you blasted oil companies…can’t fool me!  Hmm…I could say that with meaning if I owned one of those cute little electric cars or a hybrid…maybe next time!

Merry Christmas, everyone…happy holidays…